This new account of what happened in Greece from c.800 to 323 BC shows how sculptors and painters responded to the challenges of the extremely formidable and ambitious world in which the Greek city-state was created and developed. Ranging widely over the fields of sculpture, vase painting, and the minor arts, this book provides a stimulating introduction to the art of archaic and classical Greece. By looking closely at the context in which and for which sculptures and paintings were produced, as well as religion and myth, politics and the economy, Robin Osborne demonstrates how artistic developments were both a product of, and contributed to, the intensely competitive life of the Greek city.